Cutest Wall Finish Ideas - Found in Eureka Springs, Arkansas

These can all be found in this cute little restaurant named Local Flavor...  kind of at the entrance to the historic part of Eureka Springs,  Arkansas historic area.

 

 Paper collage ceiling nook.... Love. 

 Who doesn't drink a lot of wine these days... I bet you could have enough corks to fill up a message board like this in 6 months or so. :) Just stay away from those screw tops and waxy corks for a bit. 

 

This last one is a mural of a pear.. it was on a wall in a narrow passage way and the restaurant was busy.. so sorry for the weird angle... Who needs art when you can paint it directly on the wall! Love the colors and textures of this. 

PS... this is a cute little restaurant and a yummy restaurant! 

Alyssa

Remodel Monday.... Bathroom Style!

So, I have this friend Eric. We'll call him Eric with the red car (even though he is driving a silver car right at the moment). He lives in a rental unit in a house in St. Paul. Very cool space. A masculine Pottery Barn kind of feel. My cats love it there because he has vaulted ceilings and ledges to boot. A climbing they tend to go when they stay with him for any period of time. Despite his cools space he has this ugly bathroom. Ugly may actually be an understatement for this bathroom but my mother always said if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all. In terms of this bathroom though, I think those words of advice should and can be disregarded. Well.. onto this wonder! Enjoy... (oh, ps... the story is that he worked out with the landlord that they would pay for materials if he would do the labor. I think he even got to have a few months rent free during construction.)

 Egads! 

 To lovely. 

 Hope you enjoyed this first remodel! If you have one to share please send it on over.

 Alyssa

A house I love

I look forward to the house tours on Apartment Therapy every day. I love house tours and being able to get a glimpse into people's homes. I always know that if they are on Apartment Therapy, their house is a labor of love. They have poured their hearts and souls into making it fit their personality, sense of style, and design preferences. I can't say I like every home that I "tour" on the site, but I have a lot of respect for the people who have been selected to showcase their homes there. It would be a HUGE deal to have your house featured on Apartment Therapy. I will probably never be so lucky.

Last week I came across a home that I would move into in two seconds flat! I fell in love with it the first time I saw it and have gone back to get design ideas and drool over it about 5 times in a week. These people worked so hard to make their house a home and I want you to see it too!

There's my little tease for you. Now go here and take a look for yourself. I might like it more than you do, but I guarantee you that you will get an idea or two. This couple mixed so many different styles and made it look so effortless that I am jealous!

Happy house touring!

Stacy

Pinterest Post. Kitchen Lust.

One of the blogs I follow is MadeByGirl - Jen Ramos. She is a fabulous artist based in Las Vegas... I have to say.. I love this kitchen... yummy. You can find more of her house here at the wonderful apartment therapy of course. Enjoy!

Alyssa

Occasional sales! Are you hip to these?

Alyssa and I have found some good occasional sales, close to our homes, pretty recently. Do you know about these? They are sales that generally take place on weekend a month. Believe me, the women who run then need a full month to get things prepared for these. They work very hard to collect furniture, lighting and many other great things and then display them. The vignettes that they put together are outstanding. Just try to go to one of these sales and not find something to buy. I dare you!

Yesterday Alyssa, Avery and I ventured to one of our favorite sales in Anoka, Minnesota....The Loft on 2nd. It was fabulous as usual! They had fun things like succulents planted in great little pots, cowboy boots for great prices, and some wonderful and fun furniture! If you live in Minnesota, it is worth going. They have a great selection of eclectic pieces and bargain prices. You really can't beat it!

I LOVE these lights! The fact that they thought to use huge round light bulbs makes them even cuter. I may have to go back this weekend to see how much they are. First I need to find a place to put them!

Here's Avery sitting in an old metal garden chair. Avery is such a great little shopper. She doesn't complain about a thing and goes with the flow. You probably can't see it, but Alyssa bought her the scarf that she has around her neck. Did I mention they have really cute clothing there too? Slightly used and very hip! Again, the prices are great!

Glass cloches seem to be very in style right now. They had lots of them this time around and I would have gotten one if I had a place for it. In a future post I will show you what I got. I think a cloche would look so cute over a succulent plant of some sort. Put it on the coffee table in your living room to bring the garden indoors.

I think this little vignette is so cute! It makes me want to have a dinner party with a bunch of bright colors...and you know I love birds so, of course, this won me over!

This was the greatest buffet. I'm sure it's gone, but Alyssa and I both looked at it. Seriously....it was $195! That's it! I want to get a huge house and shop occasional sales to decorate the whole thing. Maybe you should get a huge house and I will come over and decorate it for you? 

Look in your area for occasional sales. They are a great bargain and you will meet some fabulous, hard-working women who encourage creativity and have fun doing what they do. 

Have a great weekend!

Stacy and Alyssa

Oh, and Avery too!

Etsy find of the day!

I absolutely love bunting flags! I want a ton of them all over my house because I think they're really cute. They rate right up there with birds for me. The happiness factor is huge! Do you know what I'm talking about? You can use them for parties, leave them out as decoration all year, or take them out for whatever occasion you would like. I have thought about making them but the laziness factor kicks in for me. I love to sew, but I'm an instant gratification girl...sometimes this means the whole cutting thing bores me and leads me to forget about even starting a project. Then I found these! It's a bunting kit. Everything is in the kit and all you need to do is sew it! Yes, you can buy them completed, too, but that will cost you. These are $14.25 and you barely have to do any work! Love that!

These are all made out of vintage bed sheets. I think the reason why I like them is because I might have actually had some of these sheets on my bed as a kid. Wow, I feel old...they are now vintage. I am a child of the 70's what can I say! Anyway, I'm showing my age now.

If you don't sew yet, this could be a fun project to start with. I guarantee it will be easy and you can say you made it yourself. You did do the SEWING part of it afterall!

I hope you're starting to love Etsy like I do!

Stacy

Etsy find of the day!

I love this! I have purchased many wall decals off of Etsy and they usually involve birds. This is no exception! If you have kids or are getting a nursery together this is such cute wall art! Look through this seller's other stuff and you will come across a few things you might like.

Isn't this the sweetest?! It makes me want to have twins. Sorta.

Happy shopping,

Stacy

The Beds I really want.

So I received email confirmation that our bed has shipped! Yay. Now to get the room painted before the bed comes in. Then the room will feel all fresh and new and ours. I am going to go one step lighter that the shade on the right.Very exciting I know. Though with all of our colorful bedding, I think calmer on the walls will be better.

On another note... I would much prefer to have a white bed. Yum. Relaxing. Yum.  Alas, I am married to a man. Who works in the mud as you have seen. In the past when I tried this dreamy white bed it ended up the yellowy stained white bed. So, color my world we shall. In the meantime, I thought I would share my dream beds, so you can see how much we saved.


The beds that I waffle between for our "real" bed are:

 The BlutDot Nook Bed... $1499.00 for a queen.

Or this from Design Within Reach. The American Modern Collection at $2,400.00 for a queen. This would look the best with our dresser for sure.

So, there you have it. What I really want. See how much I saved! Wow.

Alyssa

Pinterest Post. In my next house.

I will have a slide.

Yes. 

Alyssa 

Ps. The rest of the story is here.

The Bed Dilemma.

Some of you may have visited my house page. (For those of you who don't know who you are reading.. It is me. Alyssa. Smiling right back at you from my computer to yours.) Anyhow, if you visited my house page you will have seen my bedroom. If not, let me refresh your memory.

So, now onto the dilemma. We had a very uncomfortable king mattress in here once upon a time. It was OK for the occasional stay but did not have a lot of give (reminder this was our guest room prior to my office moving home). When we moved down here my hips started hurting pretty regularly and I finally had an aha moment after staying some where else that my problem was the mattress. Our first problem was getting a queen downstairs. We could get the mattress down, but not the box spring. Which meant we either had to put the mattress on the floor (no go.. I am creaky enough) or come up with an idea for a platform bed. Simple solution really, just add wood slats to the bed frame and voila, instant platform bed. Alas, when I sold the king mattress, I had to sell the frame as well and then we had nothing. But slats. So.. my lovely husband said, I can remedy that as well...... and did this.... 

As you can see from above he added a series of slats that go perpendicular to the original ones. (original ones are the ends at the side of the bed showing to the right of the picture) Then created a "box" for lack of a better term for the slats to sit on.  Now, this does solve the problem. It doesn't not take into consideration the nice sheets and knit blanket we have on the bed. The blanket is forever getting caught on the rough edges, because..oh, I forgot to mention. None of this is sanded. Eek! Also, we have a problem keeping the sheets tucked in at the bottom of the bed. Enough to make me crazy.. But it was cheap and easy and solved said problem. As we are on a pretty strict budget for the next year,  (it is my supreme to goal to get out of debt), in some situations we make due. This current make due solution  is making me too crazy to speak though.. so onto the next solution. A real bed. Being on a budget and liking more modern things, I kept my selecting to West Elm & Ikea. (I get a discount at West Elm as it is in the Williams Sonoma family and hey.. Ikea is just inexpensive.) I looked at the following.. did a few test drives at Ikea and West Elm and finally chose one that I have not seen in real life.. so here is hoping! 

The following were the contenders... 

We'll start with Ikea.. 

 

Engen - $149 - 

He was by far the most inexpensive. The problem with him was 2-part. First, we would have to keep up our make due cedar head board.. which is only there for the sake of having somewhere for curtains to go without them getting caught on our pillow at night and us pulling them down in our sleep. The second negative is that his "walnut" veneer is just a sticker.. Our cats are declawed on the front.. but not the back. Getting 20 pounds of Trouble up on the bed sometimes requires a little help from the back claws. Moving on.

 

Lillesand - $179

 Well, she was the next option. I liked her for our cabin-to-be. But I thought she was a little too country for our city home. Thinking ahead as we are buying something that is still a little make due, this might be a good option as I can see this moving on to a cabin in the next fives years or so.. hoping we can make a cabin closer to home happen. Yet.. perhaps too girly for us. Sooo.... moving on somewhat reluctantly.

 Redalan - $199

This was the last Ikea option. I like the white and the wicker on this one. It feels airy and light. though perhaps too airy and light for our bedroom with the 50's mid-century modern dresser and hopefully,as soon as I can find some, nightstands.  Eric was a big fat 'No' to this option. So, it quickly was scratched off the list.

Moving on... 

After seeing the last one and mentioning West Elm. Eric quickly went to their site while he was on the phone with me. (I was at Ikea test driving the above beds.) He saw this one right away and thought perfect. 

Narrow Leg - $249

He said let's get that. You get a discount so it will be close to the Ikea options and let's just get the base. No headboard. It comes in dark or white. What do you think? Well, I think. Neither. I want a head board and our dresser is a medium golden tone. White would be OK, but not what I would love. Also, I am thinking bunny chew toy. So.. moving on...

The final selection. Yes. The most expensive. But, hey I get a discount. Why not use it! :) 

Herringbone Bed Set - $599

This bed has it all for me. It is has the herringbone pattern. I like. It also looks twiggy. The cabin in the future likes. It is metal. The bunnies like. Oh, wait. No, they don't like. Oh, that makes me like it more!  So that dilemma is solved and moving on to paint colors. Eric will be excited when he comes home to this in our bedroom tonight. Keep in mind we still have the backyard hell going on.

  

Have a great night all! 

Alyssa 

Ps.. I am leaning towards the one on the right...

I don't want a cabin, I want a....

HOUSEBOAT! This one:

I can't even see inside, but summer makes me long to be on the water. I've had this picture forever so I can't give credit where credit is due...sorry for that. I just imagine lazy days and nights filled with guests. Every single weekend! Hope you had a fabulous Memorial weekend and gave kudos to veterans and the people who are currently serving. They are doing that while I am sitting at home enjoying life. For that, I honor them. If you know a veteran...be sure to thank them!

Best wishes,

Stacy

Pinterest Post. Organization.

 Super smart addition to a closet door. Genius! Found here. Next week I will clean up Avery's closet and share my American girl organization secret with you all.

 Crafty fun and great crafty storage. Found here.

 Drawers under the benches. Again. Genius! No more wasted space. Found here. There are some great kitchen ideas on this blog... I will be spending some time here when I get back for sure.

So cute... I love this. Found here. Oh, ps... those are tension rods to create the slots and only Martha could make cutting boards look this good. 

One last image for good measure.

If I had time... all the toilet paper rolls in my house would look this good.

Found here.

......with that I am headed to the cabin for a quiet weekend... 

Alyssa